Mike Biundo, of Manchester, has been working on campaigns and for conservative causes for more than two decades. Now, he says, he is working for someone who not only shares his principles, but also has a realistic chance of becoming the next president.

"I want to win," Biundo said in an interview with WMUR.com shortly before Rand Paul announced his candidacy in Louisville, Kentucky. "He can win. We need someone to clean up the mess in Washington."

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With Rand Paul's announcement, Biundo officially began working on the third major presidential campaign of his career, with a senior national role in the Kentucky senator's campaign. Rand Paul will make New Hampshire the first stop on his announcement tour on Wednesday with a rally at the Milford Town Hall.

Biundo, chief strategist for New England and senior adviser to Rand Paul's national campaign, guaranteed the auditorium of the building will be filled to capacity.

Biundo has been involved in politics since 1992 when he first volunteered for Pat Buchanan's campaign against then-President George H.W. Bush. Buchanan finished with 38 percent of the vote, damaging Bush, who went on to lose the general election.

Biundo then held a senior role in Buchanan's campaign in 1996 -- when Buchanan shocked the political world by winning the New Hampshire primary by a single percentage point over Bob Dole.

He has also long been close to current U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, heading Guinta's 2005 victory in the race for Manchester mayor over then-Mayor Bob Baines. Five years later, Biundo was a senior player in Guinta's first congressional campaign -- defeating then-Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.

Biundo was involved in efforts to implement a tax cap in the city of Manchester and other New Hampshire communities in 2008 through the former New Hampshire Advantage Coalition.

In 2012, Biundo was the national campaign manager for former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum's presidential campaign, in which Santorum won the Iowa caucus and finish fourth in the New Hampshire primary. After Santorum dropped out of the race, Biundo was tapped by Mitt Romney's campaign as deputy coalitions director.

Biundo said he first met Rand Paul when his father, Ron Paul, was running for president in 2008. He said he has long known Rand Paul's chief strategist, Doug Stafford.His first earnest sit-down with Rand Paul was in mid-2013 when the senator headlined the NHGOP's Liberty Dinner in Concord with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.

"What I really like about him is that I think he can win," Biundo said in an interview Tuesday. "He's talking to more than the traditional Republican base, and he's doing that with principle. He has a set of beliefs, and he can connect with people who don't traditionally vote for Republicans. We have to expand our base but do it by sticking to our convictions."

Biundo said he also believes Rand Paul is an outsider, despite being a sitting U.S. senator.

"He's a small-government conservative, and he believes in our Bill of Rights," Biundo said. "I think he does beat Hillary Clinton because he's a different kind of Republican, and honestly, I'm looking to win. I think we need someone to clean up the mess in Washington."

"It's reasoned," he said. "It's thoughtful, and he's not just out there yelling out talking points."

Biundo has been working on organizing a grassroots base for Rand Paul since last summer, when he joined the senator's RANDPAC. He said he believes the base of that coalition was in place thanks to the support Ron Paul received during his second-place finish in the 2012 first-in-the-nation primary.

Besides, Biundo said, Rand Paul thrives in New Hampshire-style retail politics. Biundo has shown through the years that he's adept at building grassroots support for candidates and causes.